Nigeria inflation climbs to 15.63% in December

ABUJA, Jan 17, Reuters - Nigeria's double-digit inflation climbed to 15.63% in December after eight months of decline as prices for food and non-food items went up, the statistics office said on Monday.

It said inflation, which has been in double digits since 2016, has increased by 0.23 percentage points from 15.40% in November.

Simon Harry, head of the National Bureau of Statistics, said the change must have been caused by the increase in the price of good and services.

Nigeria imports many key goods and services. The government has put restrictions on forex for certain items because of a dollar shortage, which has put pressure on prices.

Nigerian authorities said persistent inflationary pressures are not only linked to deficits and not solely to money supply, and are largely imported.

The data office said in December food price inflation, the main component of the food price, increased by 0.16 percentage points to 17.37%. Core inflation, excluding farm produce, went up 0.02 percentage points to 13.87%.

The central bank may reconsider its dovish stance on interest rates after the inflation in Nigeria goes up, which could cause some pressure on the central bank to reconsider its dovish stance on interest rates. The bank's monetary policy committee is due to meet next week to make a decision on the benchmark interest rate, which has been held at 11.5% for more than a year.